The line was one of the first opened in Fife
and became an important part of the through route from Edinburgh to Dundee and
Aberdeen, having train ferry connections from Burntisland to Granton (for Edinburgh)
and Tayport to Broughty Ferry (for Dundee and Aberdeen). It became part of the
North British Railway.

From the harbour here train ferries made the
crossing to Granton for Edinburgh. Later the line was extended west by the Aberdour
line (North British Railway) in connection with the opening of the Forth
Bridge Railway, the station at Burntisland was re-built and the train ferries
ceased. The dock at Burntisland was enlarged a number of times to accomodate
the large export of coal from Fife.

This colliery was opened in 1960 (first sod
cut 12 May 1954), and closd in 1988. The photograph was taken after closure.
The rail sidings serving the colliery joined the main line at a south facing
junction. The photograph is taken from by the main line, looking north east
towards the colliery.

This pit was served by a branch from the main
line which came from a south facing junction. The exchange sidings were in the
'v' of the junciton between the main line and the branch. Gravity shunting was
employed in the exchange sidings. The pit was locally known as 'the Dubbie'
(the pit sunk at Dubbie Braes, a 'dubby' being a rock-pool on the seashore)
and operating the line was known as 'the Dubbie Shunt'. The pit opened in 1878
(as the Francis) and was mothballed in 1984 and later closed after plans for
extending it under the sea to the Lothians were abandoned. The headframe of
the colliery still stands.

There was a station here called 'Thornton Junction'
closed in 1969. From here tracks still run west (from a north facing junction)as
the Dunfermline Branch of the
Edinburgh and Northern Railway, east as (from a south facing junction) as the
Leven Railway and formerly east (from
a north facing junction) as the Wemyss
and Buckhaven Railway. The station site suffered from subsidence due to
mining and was re-built on a number of occasions. Just to the south of the station
a spur from the Wemyss and Buckhaven Railway
passed under the main line and ran west to join the Dunfermline
Branch to the east of Thornton.

This is a two platform station. There was a
timber shed goods here which for many years was the home of A4 60009 formerly
known as "Union of South Africa". The locomotive has not lived here
for a few years. The shed was burnt down in 2002. Recently the waiting shelters
have been replaced.

This was the junction for the former Leslie
Branch which left from a north facing junction at the south end of the station.
A number of sidings still exist here and the stump of this line runs as far
as the Auchmuty mills. The line is very overgrown and out of use.

This station is open. At the north end of the
station is the south facing junction between the line to Perth and the line
to Dundee. In the 'v' of the junction is the closed locomotive shed, still standing.
The station has two platforms (it had a bay platform at the south end of the
northbound platform) and traditional North
British Railway station buildings. To the south of the station is the former
south facing junction with the Fife
and Kinross Railway. The line to Perth was singled in the 1930s. The base
of the signalbox still stands here in the 'v' of the junction.

At this north facing junction, just to the
south of Perth and the Moncrieffe Tunnel, the line joins the Scottish
Central Railway for access to Perth. There had been plans for the line to
cross the Tay somewhere to the east of Perth and approach Perth from the north
bank of the Tay, but these were abandoned partly due to opposition from other
lines, and the expense of building a bridge over the Tay which vessels could
pass under.

As the line approached the junction it turns
through more than 90 degrees and passes over a viaduct.

This two platform station is open and retains
its station building. To the south of the station, at a north facing junction,
the Cults Lime Works Railway branches off. This had a branch to Pitlessie and
another to Cults Hill where there was a locomotive shed.

This large station is open. There were formerly
three tracks between the platforms, but the central road has been lifted. The
goods yard was cleared in the 1990s for a car park. The signalbox here is still
open.

Originally known as Leuchars Junction, this
station opened with the opening of the The
Tay Bridge (North British Railway). The station has a broad island platform
approached by a footbridge. The station formerly had a single track bay platform
at both the north and south ends.

This was a south facing junction with the The
Tay Bridge (North British Railway). From here to Tayport the Edinburgh and
Northern Railway line has been closed and lifted the Tay Bridge route remaining
open. A stub of the route survived until the 1990s to serve a siding of the
Leuchars Air base.

This station site is now a carpark for a hotel.
This was the first Leuchars station and was supplied with south facing bay platforms
on the opening of the St Andrews Railway.
To the north of the station was a level crossing and signalbox.

This was one of the termii of the line. It
served not only Tayport but there was a train ferry over to Broughty
Ferry and Dundee. There station was just to the south of the harbour which
was served by rail. The harbour and station were separated by a level crossing
at which there was a signalbox. The locomotive which went down with the train
on the first Tay Bridge was brought up
and taken to the harbour here for inspection before being put back into service
following repair. The station site is now derelict and some section of rail
remain as bollards in the harbour. The line was extended west to meet the south
end of the Tay Bridge by the Wormit
line.